


Revachol Breathes

by pointyshades



Category: Disco Elysium (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, and they go on a pleasure wheel (ferris wheel), it's just about a day at the fair, they're secretly in love but this fic is not really romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:09:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23135176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pointyshades/pseuds/pointyshades
Summary: KIM KITSURAGI – “The city looks very different from up here.”PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – The buildings of Jamrock City spread out before you, the streets outlined by zigzags of lamplight and black, streaked pavement. From this height, the people milling about the fair look tiny, like insects toiling in a hive.--Or, Harry and Kim go to a fair.
Relationships: Harry Du Bois/Kim Kitsuragi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 101





	Revachol Breathes

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for NoondayDemon on Discord! They wanted a story about Harry and Kim going to the fair and going on a pleasure wheel (also known as a Ferris wheel). It was really fun to write!!  
> you can message me @lucillesharpie on twitter and tumblr if you want to chat or are interested in my writing!  
> I hope you all enjoy :D

PERCEPTION [Easy: Success] – The lights of the fair ahead of you flicker against the low cloud cover. As you approach, a burble of raised voices flows into your ears: the people of Revachol are exclaiming in joy. Around them, booths and rickety metal structures rise from the dirt and cracked cobbles of the normally abandoned Jamrock City Fairgrounds.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] – Built of aging wood and swathed in garish fabric, rubbing shoulders like the oldest of friends, the booths call to you. They seem nearly unreal, like oil paint smudged on the air. Look at one and it is a shabby, fading structure; together, they form a painting of momentary hedonism.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Easy: Success] – And beside you walks the inimitable Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi. Although this outing is not for work, but pleasure, he still hasn’t eschewed his signature orange bomber. It must nearly be part of him at this point, the puffy coat wrapping around his slender figure and guarding him from the cold that makes his breath ghost white on the wind. The lights of the fair flash off his glasses, masking his expression at times, but there is no mistaking the slight smile that tugs at one corner of his mouth as he regards the commotion before you.

YOU – “Hey Kim, are you excited?”

KIM KITSURAGI – He looks sideways at you. A reserved amusement crosses his face at the notion. Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi does not act *excited*.

KIM KITSURAGI – “I’m sure it will be entertaining.”

LOGIC [Medium: Success] – If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was being sarcastic – but when you discovered a few weeks ago that the Sundown Fair was coming to Jamrock City, Kim was the first to agree that it was a novel development. Worth *investigating*, he said, but with a gleam in his eye.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] – Revachol is run-down enough that large celebratory events are few and far between. The Sundown Fair is the oldest – and possibly only – surviving migratory fair on the isola, and it operates with little rhyme or reason. Long years often pass between its appearances in various cities.

COMPOSURE [Easy: Success] – And while it makes sense that you and your blanket retrograde amnesia don’t remember having been to the Sundown Fair, you saw the way Kim’s spine straightened when you showed him the flyer. You doubt that he’s been to a fair either.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Trivial: Success] – All in all, it is the perfect partner bonding opportunity.

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] – And the perfect opportunity to get to know Kim a little better. Since his transfer to Precinct 41 was finalized, the two of you haven’t been able to spend much time together that doesn’t involve being out on the streets, running the exhausting patrols that help make Jamrock City a little more habitable. While your investigation in Martinaise was more fraught with tension and outright danger, your lives in Jamrock City have been far more hectic.

VOLITION [Trivial: Success] – Meaning that prompting Kim to come with you to the Sundown Fair was absolutely the right choice.

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Easy: Success] – While you were thinking, your feet have carried you to the large arch that marks the entrance to the fair. It soars above you, its illuminated letters spelling out ‘THE SUNDOWN FAIR: JOY IN THE DARK.’

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – Rather suggestive, but you suppose the kids coming here don’t get it.

LOGIC [Easy: Success] – And there’s nothing suggestive about the fair itself: just good old-fashioned food, games, and rides.

KIM KITSURAGI – “Khm.” The lieutenant clears his throat. When you turn, you see that he is watching you with amusement.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Easy: Failure] – You’re *gawping*, Harry. Like a kid at his first party.

LOGIC [Medium: Success] – Well, in a way it *is* your first party. You haven’t been to a fair before, remember? At least not within your shattered memory.

YOU – “Sorry, I was distracted. This is my first time being somewhere like this.”

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant nods. “Mine too. It’s a lot, isn’t it?” He looks up at the lights, his hands folded behind his back. “They really went all out. The illuminated letters on the sign –”

YOU – “They remind you of the Whirling, don’t they?”

REACTION SPEED [Challenging: Success] – He smiles quickly.

KIM KITSURAGI – “They do, a bit. I still don’t understand how Lawrence Garte could afford to spend that much on electricity.”

LOGIC [Medium: Success] – It probably wasn’t helping his bottom line. Then again, the front of the Whirling-in-Rags served a dual purpose as most of the illumination for the street. Perhaps Garte did it to ward off crime?

HALF LIGHT [Easy: Success] – It’s safer in the light. The dark holds unseen dangers.

KIM KITSURAGI – “In any case, it’s very impressive. Care to go inside and see what else the fair has in store?”

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Trivial: Success] – He rummages in one pocket, presumably for reál to buy a ticket.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Easy: Success] – Pay for him. You invited him, after all.

HALF LIGHT [Medium: Failure] – Is that weird? He might think it’s weird.

DRAMA [Easy: Success] – Sire, the *noble* thing to do is pay. A true gentleman never lets his companion pay their own way.

LOGIC [Formidable: Failure] – Is he your companion?

SUGGESTION [Challenging: Failure] – Wait. Is this a date? Do you want this to be a date?

EMPATHY [Heroic: Failure] – Does *he* want this to be a date?

REACTION SPEED [Medium: Failure] – While you stand frozen, Kim has already paid for his own ticket and stepped through the gate into the fair.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Medium: Failure] – You missed your chance to show your *masculinity*. Another power move flubbed by Harrier Du Bois.

YOU – You shake your head and pay for your own ticket.

LOGIC [Easy: Success] – It’s probably for the best that you didn’t try to pay for Kim, anyway – you haven’t received your monthly paycheck yet, and things are a bit tight when it comes to your financial situation.

TICKET BOOTH – The booth makes a satisfying clicking sound as you insert your ticket and step though the gate. You give it a gentle pat to thank it for doing a good job.

INLAND EMPIRE [Medium: Success] – The cool, smooth metal feels friendly beneath your hand. The booth is encouraged. It will continue doing its good work.

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – Inside, the lights and sound hit you at full force. Children chattering, adults laughing, and the ringing bells of the game booths all churn together and fill your ears with muddy joy.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Easy: Success] – It’s almost too loud, but after a few moments your ears and eyes adjust.

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant is limned by the bright white lights of a nearby booth. He stands in silhouette, glasses white-rimmed, profile cast into darkness. As you walk inside, he turns and smiles.

EMPATHY [Formidable: Success] – There is a moment in which you think he may extend a hand to you, but instead he simply nods.

KIM KITSURAGI – “Where shall we go first?”

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Medium: Success] – Straight to one of those machines that tests your strength! Display your pure muscular power!

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Easy: Success] – Walk around and take in all the gaudy, corny decoration – and mock it. Let Kim know what you really think about this disgusting display of ostentatious commerciality.

HAND-EYE COORDINATION [Medium: Success] – Carnival games!

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Easy: Success] – You look at Kim. He is staring off into the distance, somewhat wistfully…at the pleasure wheel that arcs in a shining semicircle of metal framed against the dark sky.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – You know what *Kim* wants to do.

YOU – You walk over to him and smile. “How about a ride on the pleasure wheel?”

REACTION SPEED [Formidable: Success] – A look of surprise flashes across his face.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – He’s wondering how you always read people so well. It’s like a superpower, he thinks. Your ability to read body language must be absurd.

KIM KITSURAGI – “Sure.” He smiles at you. “Let’s do that.”

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – As the two of you walk through the fair, the lights, sounds and smells assault you from all sides. It’s not unpleasant, though. Once you adjust, the contents of the fair are like a feast for the senses. Frying food makes your stomach grumble. Flashing lights call your attention to countless games and rides, all promising fun that will make your heart leap and your stomach drop. The ringing of bells mixes with laughter to fill your ears.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] – Not too far away, an officer on patrol discovers an unconscious woman in an alley. She has overdosed on pyroholidon and will need an escort to the hospital, as quickly as possible. The officer is not having a good night. Neither is the woman.

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – There is little enough fun in Revachol. You are lucky to be here.

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant stops about twenty meters from the pleasure wheel, looks up at it, and lets out a long, low whistle.

KIM KITSURAGI – “Truly a feat of engineering, don’t you think?”

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] – The pleasure wheel was invented a few decades ago, but Revachol’s economy is in such tatters that seeing one is rare. Spending money and engineering skill on frivolities is not common, not to mention the fact that reserves of metal often go to shoring up crumbling buildings or creating weapons for mercenary forces. Yet there are still a few functioning pleasure wheels, and one of them stands before you.

VISUAL CALCULUS [Challenging: Success] – You can make out the joints that divide the pleasure wheel into quarters. They are sturdy, to support the weight of the huge structure plus its passengers, and spaced not too far apart; when disassembled, the pleasure wheel should separate into chunks that are manageable in transport. For a moment you see the figures of workers crawling over the pleasure wheel like ants, pulling it down and packaging it up. It is an efficient operation.

HALF LIGHT [Trivial: Success] – A pleasure wheel that comes apart? No way. If you get on that death trap, it’s going to fall to pieces. You’ll be crushed!

KIM KITSURAGI – “I've never actually seen one before," the lieutenant says quietly, as if musing to himself.

YOU – “These things are pretty rare, it’s not that surprising.”

KIM KITSURAGI – He is still regarding it, his head tipped back. “I haven’t been in a lot of situations where one would be…relevant.”

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] – He doesn’t have a lot of time for fun, he means.

YOU – “Well, I’m glad to be here for your first experience.” You shoot him a lopsided grin. “Want to get aboard?”

KIM KITSURAGI – “No, I’d rather stay down here and look at it all night.” His slightly raised eyebrow lets you know that he’s kidding.

YOU – “Sounds like a great plan. I’ll get some cotton candy to tide us over?”

KIM KITSURAGI – “Spun sugar and air. Terrific.”

YOU – “Listen, if I’m going to be sitting in the cold doing nothing for hours, I’m gonna need sustenance. Cotton candy is my best option.”

KIM KITSURAGI – “Is it?”

YOU – “Yes. I need pure sucrose to fuel this nightmare of a body.”

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Failure] – That seems wrong.

KIM KITSURAGI - "Well, fortunately for your blood sugar, I won’t force you to subsist on clouds of sugar alone. Let's go.” With that, he turns and walks toward the pleasure wheel.

ENDURANCE [Challenging: Success] – The line is long, and it would be boring if you didn’t spend the time engaged in light, pleasant banter with Kim. Without an urgent case looming over you, he is much more inclined to humor your tangents.

SUGGESTION [Easy: Success] – You manage not to commandeer the conversation; it’s a give and take. Time passes without boredom.

VOLITION [Medium: Success] – At last, your patience pays off and the two of you reach the front of the line. You show your tickets and are allowed onto the creaking metal platform of the ride.

INTERFACING [Formidable: Success] - The small, capsule-like booths that rotate around the outside of the pleasure wheel are called nacelles. The name originates from the term used to describe the cabin of an aerostatique.

YOU - "Let's climb into our nacelle, shall we?"

KIM KITSURAGI - The lieutenant smiles in surprise. "Yes-yes, I forgot that was what they were called."

DRAMA [Easy: Success] - He didn't forget, sire. He is simply trying not to appear excited.

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – As you sit down, Kim next to you, the nacelle bobs slightly.

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – You sense magic here.

PLEASURE WHEEL – I will carry you into the sky and away, to soar amongst the clouds. Around and around, like life itself, up and down and up again. Not a pointless circle, but one where circling is the point itself – an orbit of joy, lifted to the heavens and held there by metal hands.

YOU – Is this dangerous?

PLEASURE WHEEL – Only in the way experiencing life is dangerous. Only in the way letting go of your pain, beginning to relax your clenched-fist heart, is dangerous.

YOU – Who has been here before me?

PLEASURE WHEEL – Folk young and old, tired and happy, all looking forward to the spark of wonder that awaits them at the top of the wheel. You sit within the ghosts of hundreds of riders past.

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant has stayed quiet for your journey up, but now that you reach the zenith, you hear him exhale.

PERCEPTION [Easy: Success] – His breath puffs on the cold night air and drifts away.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] – His body radiates heat next to you, his arm pushed against yours by necessity in the confined space.

KIM KITSURAGI – “The city looks very different from up here.”

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – The buildings of Jamrock City spread out before you, the streets outlined by zigzags of lamplight and black, streaked pavement. From this height, the people milling about the fair look tiny, like insects toiling in a hive.

SHIVERS [Medium: Success] – Your arm rests on the metal edge of the nacelle. The wind blows between your fingers, icy and cutting, lifting you away from your body and up into the darkness of the sky. Below you, Revachol shrinks smaller and smaller, the lines of light and life crisscrossing like the faded inner workings of a radiocomputer.

YOU – And to the north?

SHIVERS – After the buildings scatter and the paved roads disperse, there is a stretch of rocky land lapped by the waves of the ocean. Cold, briny water spits sea life onto the rocks as a lone woman walks along the shore, wrapped in a threadbare shawl, occasionally bending down to pick up a smooth stone or useful bit of detritus.

YOU – And to the south?

SHIVERS – The pulsing, thumping nightlife of Boogie Street. Lights are on in basement clubs, youths twisting and contorting their bodies to the beat. Disco bleeds from the walls here, infusing everything you see, from the scattered lamps to the drunkards stumbling home after a long night of revelry, oblivious to the cutting wind that chills their bones.

YOU – And in the center?

SHIVERS – The heart of Jamrock City is a maze of spiraling alleys that curl in on themselves and out again, leading to dead ends and highways and even to the rundown building that used to be a silk factory, but which now holds the headquarters of your precinct. The cold leaks up through the concrete foundation and the ill-insulated windows, curling through the building and across the face of a tired officer doing paperwork before leaving in the form of a draught, climbing into the night sky again.

YOU – And right here?

SHIVERS – The lights of the fair and the creaking of metal bring you back to yourself with a slow blink and a shudder. You settle into your bones once more.

KIM KITSURAGI – “Are you alright?”

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – You’ve reached the bottom of the wheel, and are starting up again.

YOU – “Yeah, I’m good. Just phasing out of my body to regard the city from an impossible vantage point.”

KIM KITSURAGI – “You did seem a bit lost.”

YOU – “It’s quite the view.”

KIM KITSURAGI – He smiles, looking off into the distance again. “It is, isn’t it?”

YOU – “Kim, I wanted to thank you for coming to the fair with me.”

KIM KITSURAGI – “Thank you for inviting me.” His lips are still curved slightly upwards. His gloved hand rests beside your arm.

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – Your nacelle comes around again, and now you are nearing the top of the circle. Up and down, up and down.

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] – As was promised.

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant is staring out at the city, the lines of his face relaxed. He looks calm and at home.

YOU – “Kim?”

KIM KITSURAGI – “Yes?”

YOU – “This city means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

KIM KITSURAGI – He nods. “It may be broken-down, but to me it is still full of life and opportunity. There are so many people here struggling to make a better life for themselves. I want to do what I can to improve it myself.”

YOU – “Do you ever take a break?”

KIM KITSURAGI – He pauses before answering, “From caring about Revachol? No.”

DRAMA [Medium: Success] – He really means it, my liege. Revachol is his first and best love.

KIM KITSURAGI – “Why do you ask?”

YOU – “You work so hard all the time to improve the city. I guess I wonder why you agreed to use some of your scarce time off to come here with me.”

KIM KITSURAGI – One of his eyebrows rises slightly. The wind tugs at his hair and he pauses to pull his collar up. “I thought it would be fun, Harry. Do I need a better reason than that?”

PAIN THRESHOLD [Easy: Failure] – Your heart twinges.

YOU – “But I – I mean, what is the – well, why would anyone want to spend time with me?”

KIM KITSURAGI – He pauses again, longer this time. At last he says: “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

YOU – “What?”

KIM KITSURAGI – “You’ve made mistakes. So have we all. But…you’re recovering from them.”

KIM KITSURAGI – He takes a deep breath before continuing: “I wouldn’t agree to spend time with you if I didn’t want to.”

PAIN THRESHOLD [Easy: Success] – His words cut through you like a knife through butter. You don’t deserve this. You’ve never deserved this.

HALF LIGHT [Medium: Failure] – He lies. He’ll leave you!

DRAMA [Challenging: Success] – He’s not lying. He regards you with a steady gaze, sire.

YOU – “Well.”

KIM KITSURAGI – “Well.” The corner of his mouth quirks up in a wry expression.

YOU – “That was nice of you to say.”

KIM KITSURAGI – “What, I can’t be nice?”

YOU – “You can be polite. Any more and I might cry.”

KIM KITSURAGI – “Yes-yes, we can’t have that. I will refrain from any more niceties.”

PERCEPTION [Trivial: Success] – The conversation lapses. The wheel turns one more time, and as your bodies rise and fall through the air, the two of you stare out at the city together.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Easy: Failure] – The streets paint a beautiful tapestry of disorganization. You don’t understand their shape at all.

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant clears his throat. “Are you alright?”

YOU – “What?”

KIM KITSURAGI – “You’re crying.”

YOU – “What? Impossible.”

AUTHORITY [Medium: Failure] – You’re an officer with nerves of steel. You *never* cry.

KIM KITSURAGI – He frowns at you.

YOU – You touch your face. Your hand comes away wet.

CONCEPTUALIZATION – The shed tears glisten with reflected light.

YOU – “Oh.”

KIM KITSURAGI – “What is the matter?”

YOU – “Actually, nothing. I think they might be good tears.”

KIM KITSURAGI – He blinks.

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] – He’s surprised.

COMPOSURE [Heroic: Success] – But no longer worried. Now stop blubbering!

AUTHORITY [Legendary: Success] – Try to look *strong* and *unfazed*, not like a grown man weeping because he’s having a nice time on a pleasure wheel.

YOU – “Sorry for being a sap. This is behavior unbecoming of a Superstar Detective.” You straighten your spine and put on an expression you think looks tough.

KIM KITSURAGI – The concern fades from his face, replaced with a slight smirk at your antics. “There is no need to apologize.”

SHIVERS [Medium: Success] – Before you: the darkened city. Below you: the wheel, turning. Within you: a heart, beating steadily.

YOU – “Thanks, Kim.”

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant hums in assent.

SHIVERS – And all around you, Revachol breathes.


End file.
